


Don't Turn Out the Lights

by wth_am_i_writing



Category: VIXX
Genre: Explicit Language, Ghosts, Gore, Horror, M/M, Ravi is the main character so don't let the pairing fool you, Sexual Situations, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-24 12:07:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17100305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wth_am_i_writing/pseuds/wth_am_i_writing
Summary: It didn’t feel like he was alone when he turned the lights out, and that should have been his first clue.





	Don't Turn Out the Lights

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted to Tumblr on July 6, 2014.
> 
> Original Author’s Note: So I have to admit, when I was writing this I felt like it started out really strong and the it just gradually fizzled out when it got to the middle. I didn’t really know how to end it, and Ravi’s a typical horror movie idiot in it. I feel like Ravi’s rather flat and not characterized well, Hongbin as well, but Ken and Leo came out well at least. hrm. This is actually my first attempt at writing straight up horror meant to be creepy.I’m really not much for ghost stories or horror, but they can be fun at times. I was talking to Alex ( getyourvixxfixx) before she went on a ghost hunt, and got inspired and this is what came of it xD; Anyway, enjoy?

Something wasn’t quite right about the apartment. It hadn’t been noticeable when Ravi was between places, still moving boxes out of his parent’s house. No one had mentioned anything when he was looking into the place, either. It was cute two-bedroom apartment with a kitchen and a living room, renovated three years ago so that the kitchen and flooring was all new.  The first night in the apartment was quiet. Some noises leaked in from the city outside, and if he strained his ear, he could hear his neighbor’s TV. Living by himself would take getting used to, but he was excited by the notion.

But he felt like he wasn’t alone when he turned the light out, and that should have been his first clue.

-.-.-

By the end of the first week in his new apartment, Ravi had almost finished setting up the living room and his bedroom. He’d put up a tall bookcase in his bedroom that completely covered one of the walls, filling it with books, photos and other knickknacks.

When he came home from work the Saturday after moving in, he noticed one of the books he’d shelved last night was laying on the corner of his unmade bed, and that should have been his second clue.

-.-.-

Sometimes late at night, it sounded like there were footsteps in the living room. Ravi would go out to investigate, getting the feeling he wasn’t alone. But the moment he’d open his door, the footsteps would stop. The moment he’d turned the light on, the feeling of someone else being present vanished. Those nights, he’d swallow thickly and go back to bed, feeling like someone was at his back when the lights were turned out once more and he’d gone back into his room. And then the footsteps would start up again, continuing for a few more minutes before stopping. That should have been his third clue.

-.-.-

The third week, Ravi’d settled in and bought pots and pans. He started cooking his dinner and making lunches to take to work in advanced. Sometimes, after work, he’d be sitting in the living room with his dinner, scrolling through FaceBook as he lazily ate, when he could swear he heard the sound of something sizzling on stove in the kitchen. But when he’d get up to investigate he’d see that all the burners were off. He thought he was going crazy, but that should have been his fourth clue.

-.-.-

On Monday of the fourth week, Ravi was pulled from his sleep by what sounded like a moan. He groaned and turned over, trying to go back to sleep, but he heard it again, more drawn out and whine-like. Again, a hitched cry, another moan. Ravi realized his neighbors were having sex and blushed, burying his face into his pillow. It wasn’t long before it went quiet and he could drift back to sleep. It hadn’t occurred to him that the sounds were much too loud to have happened next door.

-.-.-

On Tuesday morning of the forth week, he suddenly became very uneasy while shaving in the bathroom. The air felt oppressive, like someone was watching him, and he got the urge to get out of there. He rushed while shaving, wanting to get out as quick as possible, and ended up nicking his chin. When the blood fell into the sink, the oppressive air disappeared. It was all in his head, he was sure. He finished his shave more sedately and cleaned up the cut.

-.-.-

Wednesday of the fourth week started off unpleasant from the moment Ravi crawled out of bed. His house slippers had moved several inches from where he’d usually left them. His apartment keys weren’t in the bowl in the kitchen where he normally left them, but were on the table in the living room. When he got to work, Ravi discovered that there was only one sandwich in his lunch instead of two. He brushed everything off as yesterday being an off day and bought a bag of chips from the vending machine to replace his second sandwich.

The apartment was chilly when he got back, but he brushed it off. That night, as he ate dinner in the living room, he could swear he could hear the pop of grease and the smell of meat coming from the kitchen, but the burners were all off and the stove was cleared when he checked. When he got in the shower, he felt like something was on the other side of the curtain. He checked three times, but nothing was there.

Ravi went to bed early that night, on edge and more convinced than ever that he was going crazy. He woke up to laughter coming from the living room. The clock read 3:06. He swallowed and got out of bed. Surely it was just the TV or something that he could easily shut off. When he opened the door to his bedroom, Ravi was hit with an oppressive air and chills ran down his spine. The laughter became louder without a barrier to damped it—male, somewhat high pitched and raspy, hitched and crazy sounding. Ravi took a step out into the living room, the hair on his arms and the back of his neck standing up, his heart beating faster. Right in the center of the room was a small red orb.

Ravi panicked, stumbled back and hit the light switch. Light flooded the room, the laughter ceased and the orb dissipated. Ravi’s fingers shook at the shock. He had to be dreaming. He stumbled into the bathroom, flipping the switch for the light before he dared step inside. He fumbled with the faucet, turning the cold water on and ducking down to splash his face, convinced that it would wake him up and bring him back to reality.

When he looked up in the mirror, his blood ran cold. Someone was staring back at him. Blond hair, piercing eyes, tight set lips, incredibly handsome. Ravi blinked and the man was gone. He was so terrified he couldn’t move—couldn’t _breathe_. Then the temperature around his left shoulder, neck and the side of his face dropped, and he heard a voice, soft and melodic but clear as day:

“Keep the lights on tonight.”

And that was when Ravi knew, with out a doubt, that his apartment was haunted.

-.-.-

Ravi’d turned on all the lights in the apartment before attempting to go back to bed, but couldn’t fall asleep for hours. He’d barely gotten two more hours of sleep when his alarm went off and he had to drag himself out of bed to go to work. The smell of fresh brewed coffee filled the apartment, but Ravi didn’t have a coffee maker. Not wanting to be in the apartment any longer than he had to be, he rushed through his daily grooming and left as quickly as possible. When he got home from work, the apartment was normal temperature, nothing was out of place, and the kitchen was silent.

-.-.-

For three days, nothing was out of the ordinary at all. For three days, Ravi had piece of mind, though he kept the lights on at night out of sheer precaution. Then the fourth day after the _incident_ , as he came to call it, he came home to one of the books from his bookshelf sitting on the table in the living room.

-.-.-

Two weeks after the incident, while Ravi was eating dinner in the living room, he could hear the sound of something cooking in the kitchen. Just in case, he went to check. The blond man he’d seen in the bathroom mirror stood at the stove with a skillet. Ravi screamed and the man disappeared. His scream was so loud his neighbor came to check on him, but Ravi waved her off and told her it was nothing, that he was just watching scary movies.

-.-.-

That Saturday, he woke up to the blond man sitting on his couch reading one of the books from his bookcase. When he noticed Ravi, he placed the book down on the table and disappeared.

-.-.-

When Ravi looked at his electricity bill, he decided he couldn’t afford to keep all the lights on all night. That night, when he went to bed, he turned off the lights and felt the presence of someone else in the room. His hair stood on end and it was difficult to fall asleep.

-.-.-

Ravi caught sight of the blond ghost staring out the window in the living room just as he was about to leave for work, and he wondered briefly what the man was looking at. When he got home, his slippers were in the living room.

-.-.-

Twenty-eight days to the hour after the _incident_ , Ravi was woken by laughter. His heart was thumping so hard in his chest when he got out of bed that he thought he might pass out—almost wished he would. The air outside his room was oppressive, the laughter loud and crazed. He had the strongest urge to run, to slam his bedroom door closed, but pushed it down. When the lights flipped on, everything went quiet. The air around him chilled significantly, and he heard the same voice he had last time.

“Keep the lights on tonight.”

Ravi never was able to fall back asleep that night.

In the morning the apartment smelled like fresh brewed coffee.

Everything was quiet for three days.

-.-.-

Every once in a while, Ravi caught sight of the blond man. Sometimes he cooked in the kitchen, other times he was curled up on the couch reading, yet other times he was in the bathroom. But more often than not, rather than seeing the blond man, he’d discover that his things had moved. As the month went on, the ghost’s activities grew more numerous and he became easier to spot. At night, Ravi could make out his footsteps as he wandered the apartment. He seemed harmless enough.

-.-.-

Three weeks after the second incident, while Ravi was making breakfast, he caught sight of the blond man in the corner of his eye. He turned to try to get a better glimpse of him, but he was already gone. Ravi turned back to his eggs, glad that the ghost hadn’t stuck around long. But no sooner had the thought crossed his mind, than something crashed to the floor. Ravi jumped, almost screaming at the surprise and looked around to find what fell.

The cabinet that stored his cups was open and a broken glass was on the floor. Ravi swallowed thickly, fear welling up in him to the core as he noticed how cold and oppressive the air had gotten. Maybe the blond man wasn’t so harmless after all. Regardless, Ravi didn’t want to be in the apartment any more than he had to after that. He switched the skillet off and got his things together to leave.

When he got home from work, the skillet was on the floor and the half cooked eggs were strewn everywhere.

-.-.-

Sounds of sex woke Ravi up in the middle of the night, three nights in a row. He’d burry his face in the pillow, trying to ignore it, glad that it wasn’t the ghost. The second and third nights, he jerked himself off to the noises, blood running cold when on the third night, the moans were broken by a familiar sounding laugh. Ravi quickly got out of bed to throw up and turned on all the lights.

-.-.-

Twenty-eight days to the hour, and Ravi was woken up by _that_ laughter. He didn’t know why he stayed in that apartment anymore. Something in the back of his mind stupidly kept him there, just like it stupidly urged him to get up and go investigate. But he refused, resisted the urge as best he could. The laughter got louder, more crazed. Ravi pulled the sheets around himself, driving down the urge to get up. His heart was pounding in his chest, his hair stood on end, and he couldn’t calm his mind no matter what he did. The laughter broke off into crying.

Ravi couldn’t suppress the urge to investigate any longer. Dragging his blanket with him, thinking it’d offer some sort of protection, he opened his bedroom door. He was hit with air more chilled and oppressive than ever, making it almost impossible to move. In the dim light that spilled into the living room from outside, Ravi could make out the figure of a man on his knees and covering his face.  It wasn’t the blond man, he realized—brown hair, different clothes, not quite as broad in stature. Ravi squeaked and the man—this other ghost—looked up at him, his cries melting back into laughter.

Ravi freaked, jerking back and hand flying up to flip the light switch. It took two painfully long seconds for the lights to flicker on, shooting Ravi’s fear through the roof, but the man disappeared the moment the room was drenched in light. Somewhat relieved, Ravi stumbled back into his room, sure to flip the light on there as well. Feeling more secure, he took several deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.

He turned to crawl back in his bed, but was met with the blond man sitting on the corner, legs crossed and face serious. Ravi stumbled back, a scream slipping past his lips, and tripped on his blankets, falling to his ass. The blond man tilted his head, the corner of his mouth tugging upwards ever so slightly. Ravi scrambled backwards until he hit the wall.

“G-go-g-go—“ Ravi stuttered, unable to get out anything coherent. The ghost’s expression turned serious again.

“You don’t learn,” the blond man stated simply, voice as soft and melodic as ever. “Don’t turn the lights out on nights with a full moon.”

“Th-the _fuck_ is tha-that—“

“Hongbin’s most powerful then,” the blond man interrupted. Ravi swallowed, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes as he tried to process the information. When he looked back up, the ghost on his bed was gone. Ravi stayed huddled in the corner of his room until dawn, unable to move or sleep from the scare he’d had. The scent of fresh brewed coffee filled the apartment, and Ravi decided to move in with a friend for the next two weeks.

-.-.-

“What the fuck happened to your apartment?” Ravi’s best friend, Ken asked in horror when they came back. Ravi swallowed as he looked at the mess—the cushions of the couch had been removed and looked as if they’d been thrown against the wall, books from his bedroom book case and papers from his filing cabinet were strewn all over the floor.

“I told you, this place is haunted,” Ravi said heavily. “Big time.”

“Then why don’t you move the fuck out of here? I mean, if it’s really as scary as you say, I wouldn’t have stayed after seeing the blond guy, let alone as long as you did.”

“I-I don’t really know why. It wasn’t really bad. Mostly just things moving around? But on full moons…” Ravi tried to explain, not fully understanding why he dared to stick around. Ken sighed, stepping further into the apartment and beginning to poke around. Ravi had to take a few breaths before he could step further into the apartment. The air was chilly, but it didn’t have that oppressive air he sometimes felt.

“So which bedroom is yours?” Ken asked curiously, toeing some of the papers on the floor. Despite the mess of things from his room on the ground, all the doors inside the apartment were shut—not how he’d left them.

“The one on the right, next to the bathroom. I use the other one for storage,” Ravi answered quickly, bending down to start picking up papers. Ken nodded and headed over to the door. He heard the sound of his bedroom door click open as Ken went to investigate.

“Man, it’s like a tornado hit in here too. Your comforter’s in the corner…” Ken called out, making Ravi flinch. He didn’t really want to see what they’d done to his room, but he knew the comforter wasn’t their work.

“I left the comforter there,” Ravi corrected, straightening up. “I was too afraid to sleep in my bed after—“ The sentence died on his tongue when he looked up towards the window. The blond man was staring at him, smirking.

“I wondered when you’d be back,” he said and disappeared. Ravi felt his knees go weak. The papers in his hands fell to the floor and he followed, knees crashing into the ground hard enough to draw Ken back into the living room to check on him.

“What? What happened?” Ken asked frantically, kneeling down next to Ravi and shaking him.

“B-Blondie—“ Ravi stuttered, lifting a hand up to point at the window. Ken turned to look.

“I don’t see anything.”

“Not anymore. You didn’t hear him speak?”

“I didn’t hear anything, man…” Ken looked back at Ravi, brows knit together.

“You’re staying here tonight, right?” Ravi asked, reaching over and gripping Ken’s sleeve.

“Yeah, I promised,” Ken affirmed with a nod.

They cleaned up the apartment, fixed dinner and went to bed, but nothing happened that night or the next.

-.-.-

The third night Ken slept over, Ravi could hear footsteps in the living room. When he reached out and hit Ken, he knew it was the ghosts out there.

“You hear that?” Ken asked in a hushed voice, startling Ravi so bad that he almost fell out of the bed.

“Y-yeah,” Ravi stuttered. Ken’s arms found Ravi’s waist and pulled him in close.

“I-it’s scary,” Ken mumbled, pressing his face into Ravi’s shoulder. Ken didn’t know the half of it, Ravi thought as he hugged Ken back, grateful for the physical support.

The next morning, Ken’s toothbrush was in his shoes.

-.-.-

The fifth night Ken slept over, Ravi vaguely felt the side of the bed dip down as if someone had sat down. Something cool brushed his face, but he was too far asleep to register more.

“I’m not the one you should be worrying about.” Soft and melodic. When Ravi woke up, he wondered if it’d been a dream.

-.-.-

“This place is honestly getting too freaky to stay in,” Ken grumbled as he set up a camera in the living room, right next to Ravi’s door. Sunset was soon, and it was going to be a full moon. Ken refused to stay in the apartment any longer. Ravi wasn’t sure which ghost it’d been, but Ken seemed to be their new target. Ken’s things kept moving, and two cups had fallen to the ground and shattered when he was in the kitchen alone. Ravi had caught sight of the blond man in the bathroom mirror, but Ken had yet to see him.

“Just a few more hours and then we’re gone for the night, ok? You’re not even gonna be here for the worst of it,” Ravi sighed, setting up a timer on the floor lamp he had in his living room. It would turn on at 2:00 AM and cut off at 4:30.

“As soon as it’s midnight, we’re getting the fuck out of here,” Ken insisted.

“I don’t want to stay just as much as you don’t.”

-.-.-

The next morning when they went to fetch the camera, the apartment smelled of coffee. The camera was off, though Ken figured it’d just run out of batteries. Nothing was out of place that Ravi noticed. They went back to Ken’s place to watch the video. The two sat at the edge of Ken’s couch, fast forwarding the video.

The lamp cut on at 2:00 AM as set. The room was still, nothing happened. Ken slowed the fast forward down as the time in the corner of the video neared 3:00 AM, finally letting it play normal speed when it got to 2:58. Ravi could feel his heart speeding up with fear and anticipation. He didn’t have to be in the apartment to know what the air felt like at when the video was recorded.

3:02 AM, an orb floated across the living room. Ravi and Ken grabbed each other’s arms, gripping each other’s sleeves tight as they watched. 3:06 AM, the lamp fizzled out and they both screamed, jumping back farther into the couch as they tugged and squeezed each other tighter. The camera kept rolling, the light pouring in from the window just barely enough to make the shapes of the objects in the room clear. 3:07 AM, a hazy shadow approached the camera.

“Fuck this, I can’t watch this anymore,” Ken cried, burying his head in Ravi’s shoulder. But Ravi couldn’t look away, was too frozen in fear by whatever—or whoever—was approaching the camera to look away. The shadow covered the screen, making it hard to see the outline of the furniture in the living room, and then there was static accompanied by a faint murmur. “Fuck, fuck, _fuck_ , Ravi, this is _bad_ ,” Ken whined, gripping Ravi tighter and making it impossible to hear whatever the audio picked up. Then the video cut off and Ravi screamed again at the suddenness, Ken screaming with him. The TV screen turned blue.

“Ken, _it shut the camera off._ It fucking _shut_ the camera _off_ ,” Ravi wailed, shaking Ken, but Ken was too shocked to answer. “God, _fuck_ ,” Ravi hissed. “I swear it said something though.”

“It didn’t say anything. I didn’t hear anything,” Ken insisted, finally snapping out of it.

“Because you were too busy freaking out when it was talking,” Ravi hissed. “Rewind it.”

“I’m _not_ watching that again,” Ken insisted.

“Rewind it, I wanna see if I can make it out. The blond one talks to me sometimes, maybe that was the one that turned it off,” Ravi pushed.

“Ok, ok! Fine, I’ll rewind it,” Ken conceded, getting the remote and rewinding the video until just before the video cut off. He hit play, gripping Ravi’s arm with crushing strength. Static crackled, and Ravi could hear mumbling but it was too quiet to make out what was said.

“Play it again, but louder,” Ravi ordered, shaking Ken.

“I really don’t wanna know what it said,” Ken protested but rewound the video again anyway. He cranked the volume on the TV up then pressed play. Static crackled, accompanied by a faint chuckle that sent chills down Ravi’s spine.

 _“It’s not polite to spy on people’s personal life. This is a show just for Leo and me,”_ crackled in and out in the static, the voice deep and husky—a complete contract to the blond man’s voice. It was loud enough with the volume turned so high to feel like he’d been in the room. _This_ was Hongbin, the cackler, the one the blond man—no, _Leo_ —warned him about. Ravi couldn’t _breathe_.

-.-.-

“This is stupid. Absolutely crazy. You shouldn’t go back to that damn apartment,” Ken protested, following Ravi up the stairs.

“After the full moon, there was always a couple of days where absolutely nothing happened. We’ll be fine. Besides, Leo’s already told me, he’s not the one to worry about,” Ravi insisted, climbing the stairs up to his apartment.

“One malevolent ghost is _enough_ reason not to go back, Ravi. Who cares if one is nice. You should just tell the apartment manager and break the lease contract.”

“I can’t afford to break the lease, and I’d feel bad asking my parents to help me get a new place so soon,” Ravi sighed. “Besides, they haven’t hurt me yet.”

“ _Yet_. Doesn’t mean they won’t start soon,” Ken warned. Ravi shook his head, crossing the last few feet to his apartment and pulling out the keys.

“I don’t think they’ll hurt me. I know it’s crazy but… There’s just this nagging feeling I have that’s keeping me from leaving this place alone yet. Maybe it’s Leo. He’s about our age, and so’s Hongbin. Maybe it’s that I want to know why they’re here or something. I just can’t let it go,” Ravi tried to explain, unlocking the door and pushing it over.

“You’re insane. If you get hurt, it’s your fault,” Ken grumbled.

“I know. Things’ll be pretty calm until it gets close to the next full moon. If it gets bad enough, I’ll go stay at your place, ok?”

“Don’t get yourself killed.”

“I won’t.”

But Ravi really wasn’t sure he’d walk away from the next full moon alive either.

-.-.-

Ravi got daring. He started sitting in the living room with the TV on but no lights late at night. He didn’t know if he was baiting them or not. The first few nights nothing was out of the ordinary. On the fourth night, at about midnight, the channel suddenly changed to a news station. Ravi swallowed, checking to make sure he hadn’t shifted onto the remote. He hadn’t. He changed the channel back to the movie he’d been watching. The channel switched back to the news station almost immediately.

“Le-Leo?” Ravi called out cautiously. “Or is this Ho-Hongb-bin?”

The TV cut off, leaving him in sudden darkness. The floor creaked like someone was walking on it and it felt like a light breeze was blowing on him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, his heart was pounding. He wanted to dash for his bedroom, but didn’t dare move. The creaking noise got farther away—sounding as if it was headed toward the other bedroom—then stopped completely. Ravi bolted towards the light switch.

Everything was normal once the lights were on, but he couldn’t help but feel the urge to check the spare bedroom. Ravi approached it slowly, cautiously. The closer he got, the more he felt like he should turn away and go back to his bedroom, the air becoming more oppressive. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the knob and turned it, pushing. But the knob wouldn’t twist and the door wouldn’t budge. It was as if it’d been locked from inside. Ravi released the door and stepped back. If whoever didn’t want him to go in, he wouldn’t be able to.

-.-.-

Ravi checked the spare bedroom in the morning before heading out for work. The door was unlocked and everything was how he’d remembered leaving it.

-.-.-

Leo was sitting on the couch reading a book from Ravi’s bookcase one evening when he got back from work. When Leo noticed him, he moved to put the book down.

“Wait!” Ravi blurted out, not knowing what came over him. Leo stopped moving. “I-I wanna talk.” Leo tilted his head, eyebrow raising ever so slightly. Ravi hurriedly slipped out of his shoes and went into the living room, clearing his throat as he went. “Why a-are you haunting this place?” spilled out of his lips when he got a few yards away from Leo. It wasn’t the smoothest question he could ask, but he supposed it was the one that plagued his mind the most. Leo stared at him for a few long moments before responding.

“We’re stuck.” The answer was so quiet that Ravi almost missed it.

“Stuck?” Ravi repeated dumbly, not understanding at all. “Like stuck between worlds?” Leo nodded.

“Hongbin has something he wants to do.” Before Ravi could ask anything else, Leo disappeared and the book he was holding fell to the ground. Ravi cursed in frustration and the book slid across the floor. It was probably a subject Leo didn’t want to talk about.

-.-.-

The day before the full moon, Ken dropped by to set up several cameras around the house at Ravi’s request. The pans and dishes that Ravi left in the sink after fixing dinner rattled while Ken set one up close to the kitchen, and he swore he wasn’t stepping into the apartment again until after the full moon.

That night, the bed sank down as if someone was sitting on the edge.

“I can’t help you after 3:30, even if you turn the lights on.” Soft and melodic. Ravi knew he wasn’t dreaming.

-.-.-.-

3:05 AM, Ravi was woken up by the sound of laughter. He resisted every urge in his body to get up and turn off the light. 3:15 AM, the laughter turned to crying. Ravi stared up at the ceiling, heart pounding, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. 3:25 AM, the crying stopped and was replaced by the sounds of fighting. Taking a few deep breathes to calm himself down, Ravi rolled out of bed and poised himself at the door. 3:30 AM, everything fell silent. Ravi swallowed and waited—for what he didn’t know, but no sound came. 3:35 AM, Ravi opened the door, the oppressive air hitting him so hard he almost crumpled to the floor and gagged. The air was so chilly, the silence too eerie. It felt like every hair on his body was standing up, like his heart would explode. His instinct was to slam the door shut and turn on the light in his bedroom, but he pushed the urge down and looked into the living room. He wished he hadn’t.

Leo was on the ground, head bent unnaturally, hands and feet cut off, intestines pulled from his gut. Ravi fell to his knees, gagging. _This_ was what Leo’d meant. He heard the creak of footsteps and his head snapped up. Hongbin stumbled from the kitchen, a large cooking knife in hand. He fell to his knees next to Leo, a crazed grin over taking his features. He took Leo’s face in his hands and leaned down to press a kiss onto his forehead.

“I didn’t mean to. I love you, you know. You can’t leave me like this, now can you?” Hongbin sobbed, breaking out into tears. He kissed Leo on the lips, then pulled back slightly, lifting Leo’s head and slamming it repeatedly onto the floor until a sick crack rang through the air. “I forgive you, so you forgive me, right?” Hongbin laughed, releasing Leo’s head. He grabbed the knife and began flaying Leo’s arm. Ravi vomited. When he looked back up, Leo was gone and Hongbin was disappearing into the kitchen.

Ravi got to his feet and stumbled after Hongbin, stopping dead in his tracks at the entrance. Hongbin was stuffing _something_ into the freezer. It was filled to the brim with meat. Ravi stumbled back, clamping his hands over his mouth to prevent the scream that welled up when he spotted fingers. The air turned frigid, Hongbin leaving the kitchen and walking right by Ravi. Ravi squeaked, squeezing his eyes shut and hoping that Hongbin didn’t turn around.

“See what I’ve done?” Hongbin asked, and Ravi wasn’t quite whether he was talking to him or himself. “Leo liked to cook, so I cooked him.” Hongbin’s pitch rose sharply and he started laughing. He turned and walked across the living room to the second bedroom, disappearing through the door. Ravi followed, opening the door before he could think better of it. Nothing. There was a clatter coming from the direction of the bathroom.

Ravi was shaking so bad he could barely move. His legs wanted to give out on him again, but he fought it. Taking a few deep breaths, he crossed to the bathroom. He entered and nothing was out of the ordinary his first glance around, but just as he was about to leave, he caught sight of a knife in the sink out of the corner of his eye. He did a double take and realized the whole sink was splattered in trailing blood. Feeling his stomach sink, Ravi turned, following the trail to the tub, scrambling back until he hit the sink when he saw the tub: Hongbin in red water, deep cuts up to his elbows, staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression. Suddenly he laughed, paused then started cackling. Ravi edged towards the door desperate to get out of the bathroom or at least to the light switch, but froze when he felt something icy grip the back of his neck. He realized faintly that Hongbin was gone from the tub.

“I missed him. Felt so guilty. No one realized, so I had to punish myself,” Hongbin whispered in his ear. Ravi was shoved forward into the bathroom, Hongbin’s icy grip still on his neck. He felt his whole body going cold, could hear his heart pounding in his head. Ravi resisted, but it was no use, Hongbin overpowering him easily with whatever force he was using. “I just wanted someone to know.” Ravi’s face and body connected with the wall and he could feel the press of something cold all along his back—he was pinned. “I wanted someone to _know_ , but I didn’t want to leave him. I still don’t want to leave him.”

“Well I know now, so what are you going to do? Kill me too?” Ravi dared to ask. Hongbin seemed to want to talk, so he’d engage him. After all, it wasn’t like he could get away at this point anyway.

“I’ll move on,” Hongbin replied, quietly, tone almost sad.

“ _Don’t go_.” Leo’s voice—high and desperate. “Don’t leave me here.” The cold and pressure left Ravi’s back, but he didn’t dare turn around just yet.

“But somebody knows now,” Hongbin said, voice breaking with sorrow. “He can take care of you now. Leo, don’t cry. He can put you to rest.”

“Don’t leave me,” Leo repeated, voice more upset. “I can’t meet you again if you do.” At those words, Ravi worked up enough courage to peek over his shoulder. The two stood in the doorway of the bathroom, translucent and ethereal, Hongbin cupping Leo’s cheeks as they both cried.

“I have to pay for what I did,” Hongbin argued back.

“I already forgave you. You weren’t right in the head.” Ravi turned around fully, keeping his back to the wall as he watched the two.

“I can’t forgive myself.” Hongbin began laughing and pulled away from Leo. He turned to face Ravi, grin wide and crazed. He lifted an arm, pointing towards the other side of the apartment. “Check the closet walls.” Ravi stupidly turned his head to follow where Hongbin was pointing. When he looked back, only Leo stood before him, face snarled in anger. The bathroom mirror cracked and Leo was gone. Seconds later there was a crash in the living room.

Ravi stayed rooted to the spot, waiting for anything else to happen. After several minutes of silence, Ravi went to the bathroom door, flipping on the light on before stepping out and heading for the light switch in the living room. The light was blinding after walking around in the dark so long, but he forced his eyes open. The camera that had been set up by the kitchen lay smashed on the ground, but Leo wasn’t in sight. He slowly made his way to the second bedroom, opened the closet and pulled out everything inside it. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anything in the walls like Hongbin had hinted.

He called Ken and told him to bring as many hammers as he could.

-.-.-

They’d found bones, almost a full skeleton. Ken called the police while Ravi sat inside the closet, shocked and nauseous. The police came and took them away to identify who they belonged to. The ruckus set the whole apartment building in a frenzy, and though his land lord was furious that he’d put a hole in the wall, he was glad the bones were found and that it was just a false wall that the previous tenant had put up _ten_ years ago. The landlord hadn’t even _noticed_ the modification.

The only person Ravi dared tell what he saw that night was Ken. They’d taken the video cameras back to his place while the police turned over Ravi’s., but the tapes were either blank or showed Ravi freaking out. Ravi eventually managed to harangue the landlord into telling him about the previous tenant, using the presence of the bones and the fact that he wasn’t informed of some serious things as grievances.

Lee Hongbin and Jung Leo had co-leased the apartment over ten years ago. It was an open secret among the tenants that they were lovers—the walls weren’t exactly sound proof—and had resided in the apartment together for two years. They were quiet and didn’t get out much, Leo especially. Most tenants at the times didn’t know Leo very well, but they had known Hongbin. He was a happy man, quiet but friendly with the neighbors. One night there’d been a fight. No one saw any traces of Leo after that, and everyone had just assumed that they’d broken up.

Hongbin was a bit off after that, but kept smiling and stayed friendly with the neighbors. Several months after the fight, Hongbin failed to pay the rent. When the door to the apartment was broken down, they found his already rotted body in the tub. The death was ruled a suicide and the apartment was cleared. It remained vacant for several years, people refusing to rent it due to Hongbin’s suicide. The apartment was renovated when the landlord decided to replace the flooring in the whole building and bring all the kitchens up to code.

The known story was tragic enough, but word got back that the bones Ravi had found belonged to Jung Leo, upsetting the landlord and the few residents that had lived there long enough to have known the couple. The bones were returned to Leo’s family, who’d lost contact with him around the time he’d moved into the apartment. Leo hadn’t even been on the missing person’s list, making it that much more understandable why Hongbin had wanted someone to find out. What had happened was more horrific than anyone had imagined, and Ravi didn’t dare tell the landlord about their ghosts.

Despite everything that happened, Ravi didn’t want to move, even when his parents urged him to. The nights were quiet now. He was sure they were gone, finally resting. But some nights, when he turned the lights off, he couldn’t help but feeling like he wasn’t alone, and when he’d wake up, his keys weren’t where he remembered leaving them.


End file.
